Classic whodunit authors are those that focus on the plot. The latter usually has a strong puzzle element with the sleuth, who can be amateur as well as police officer, working out who the culprit is based on plain deduction. The appeal of this sub-genre is that readers too can work plots out and try to arrive to the same conclusions.

	Margery Allingham	One of the Queens of detective fiction.
	Stephanie Barron (a.k.a Francine Mathews)	Writes mysteries featuring Jane Austen as amateur sleuth.
	Veronica Black (pseudonym of Maureen Peters)	Sister Joan is the hero of these mysteries set in Cornwall.
	Christianna Brand	Considered the last author of the Golden Age of the Detective novel.
	Kate Charles	An American often considered too British, Kate Charles features novels set in the Church of England.
	Agatha Christie	The Queen of the Golden Age of British Detective Fiction.
	Wilkie Collins	Author of one of the earliest detective stories, Wilkie Collins is famous also for his work with Charles Dickens.
	Louise Crawford	Author of two very apreciated series, published as ebooks.
	Deborah Crombie	Thanks to her Duncan Kincaid Series, Deborah Crombie is very highly considered and her novels have been translated into many languages.
	Amanda Cross	Creator of the Kate Fensler series, possibly one of the most learned sleuths ever put to paper.
	Lindsey Davis	Ancient Roman whodunit, featuring Didius Falco.
	Jeffrey Deaver	Currently one of the most popular authors world wide.
	Colin Dexter	Among the most highly considered crime writers.
	Michael Dibdin	Dibdin is famous for both his series, featuring Italian cop Aurelio Zen, as well as his non-series novels that are characterized by diversity.
	Margaret Doody	Excellent whodunits starring Aristotle.
	Sir Arthur Conan Doyle	Creator of Sherlock Holmes, Conan Doyle popularized the entire genre and continues to be successful to this date.
	Umberto Eco	Author of one of the classics of the historical whodunits.
	Elizabeth Eyre (a.k.a. Susannah Stacy)	Whodunits set in imaginary places during the Italian Renaissance featuring sleuth Sigismondo.
	Jasper Fforde	A great new writer with an incredible imagination.
	Nicci French	As a matter of fact, Nicci French is the pseudonym of British journalists Nicci Gerrard and Sean French.
	Jonathan Gash	The creator of Lovejoy.
	Elizabeth George	George is considered to be one of the most brilliant US crime novelists.
	Jean-Christophe Grangé	Author of Blood Red Rivers.
	Martha Grimes	Very successful in the US, Martha Grimes' book titles are names after English pubs.
	Patricia Highsmith	One of the most famous and acclaimed mystery authors, Patricia Highsmith specialized in crimes set in international environments.
	Tony Hillerman	One of the most aphomeciated US authors, Tony Hillerman can be defined as the father of the ethic mystery.
	Jorge Ibargüengoitia	Among the most famous modern Mexican authors.
	PD James	Author of a very successful series featuring Scotland Yard Chief Inspector Adam Dalgliesh, James has been able to give the genre a quality status.
	Harry Kemelman	The creator of the most famous Jewish detective: Rabbbi Small
	Carlo Lucarelli	One of the most important modern Italian mystery writers.
	Ross Macdonald	Creator of the Lew Archer series, he must be considered to be one of the greatest of all times.
	Ngaio Marsh	One of the Queens of the British Golden Age.
	Manuel Vasquez Montalban	One of the most famous Spanish writers, author fo the Pepe Carvalho series.
	Sharan Newman	Considered to be the new Ellis Peters, Sharan Newman is among the best historical fiction authors.
	Sara Paretsky	One of the most famous women mystery writers, Sara Paretsky is author of the V.I. Warshawski series.
	Elizabeth Peters	Famous for her extremely witty Amelia Peabody Series, Barbara Mertz (a.k.a. Elizabeth Peters) has also written other mysteries.
	Santo Piazzese	A new very cynical Italian author.
	Edgar Allan Poe	The so-called father of mystery, gothic and supernatural, Poe was and is a major influence on whoever has and will contemplate writing a detective story.
	Ruth Rendell (a.k.a. Barbara Vine)	One of the queens of the genre, Rendell not only has a series featuring Chief Inspector Reginald Wexford, but also writes non series, short stories as well as darker novels under the name of Barbara Vine.
	Laura Joh Rowland	By setting her characters in a Shogun-type atmosphere, Laura Joh Rowland has found many followers that are not just interested in crime novels.
	Dorothy Sayers	One of the Queens of the Golden Age of British detective stories.
	Giorgio Scerbanenco	The father of the Italian noir.
	Aileen Schumacher	Rising in popularity, Aileen Schumacher is the author of engineering whodunits featuring Tory Travers and Detective David Alvarez.
	Sandra Scoppettone (a.k.a. Jack Early)	Author of the series featuring PI Lauren Laurano.
	Martin Cruz Smith	The creator of the Arkady Renko series as well as many other different stories.
	Scott Turow	One of the most apreciated US writers world wide, Scott Turow is a master of this genre.
	Minette Walters	A non-series author, Walters has won tons of awards both in Britain as well as in the US with her extremely well written whodunits.
	Carolyn Wheat	Famous also for her short story writing, Carolyn Wheat has made good use of her legal aid experience with the creation of the Cass Jameson series.
	Cornell Woolrich	The father of noir.
	Margaret Yorke	Considered on a par with Ruth Rendell and PD James.
	Israel Zangwill	Wrote the first locked-room story, a major contribution to the genre.